Julie,

I appreciate your reading my blog and taking the time to respond. The point of our blog is to present our point of view. In this post, I present why I think this ad is unsuccessful and give many reasons why and I do this analytically, addressing the very specific reasons based on our understanding of advertising and psychology. Furthermore, I give suggestions for creating a more effective ad for the union and explain why that approach would work better. Of course you are welcome to disagree and I am welcome to hearing your ideas about this ad campaign. If there are any specific facts in this post or any other of my posts that are inaccurate, I would love to hear about it and would correct it immediately.

Generally speaking, unions have made great strides in workers rights in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. By all accounts they have been less successful in the latter half of the 20th century as the workplace dynamic has changed and as a result, union membership has been dropping steadily. Unfortunately, in a time when collaboration is needed more than ever to solve the gloabl issues that face the American economy, unions like DC37 still maintain a “Us versus Them” mentality which breeds anger on both sides. In the big picture, unions will not be successful by seeing the world through a lens of “fighting” rather than cooperation. In order to be successful, they need the support of others, as this ad tries to do. Unfortunately, it tries to do so through this lens of antagonism.

Many nonprofits which have focused on passing regulations in the 1970s and 80s (a “fighting” lens), have found success in the 90s and 2000s by collaborating with the industries they are trying to reform, rather than chastising them. Unions would do well to adopt these strategies.

Thanks again for reading, and I look forward to a lively exchange.

Howard